un cap de setmana molt bo - a really good weekend

We were fortunate enough to be invited to spend the weekend with some friends in their family country house in the village of Arbeca in the Catalan countryside.  I didn't get nearly as many pictures of the highlights as I would have liked but I suppose that meant I was having too much fun just enjoying it.  It was so nice and we're still happily recovering ; ).  Ahhh.

For this post some guest writers are joining me because they have a lot to say about all of this --

Aoife & Aine:  We're going in the car to see Maria's little house.

Aoife:  We're still riding in the car.  I love Maria a lot and we're going to her house.
Aine: Hey, there's Maria's car (the little blue one to the right)!

 Aoife:  I liked playing dominoes.

 Aine:  We didn't do the horses one yet (that's still to come).

Aoife:  We're drivin' that truck.
Aine:  Where's Maria, Mommy?  I don't see her.

 Aoife:  I'm riding the horse that was at the toy museum. 

 Aine:  It went around.  Around.  Around.

 Aoife:  Here I am riding the Mickey Mouse thing.

 Aine:  For starters, I'm the one with blue and the really big smile.  We're riding with each other.

 Aoife:  We're going to ride with the horses and we're going to have lots of fun.

Aoife:  And I had fun on it.  And Maria had fun on it.
Aine:  Me too!

 Aine:  Daddy and Aine riding the carousel, the horses ... carriage!

 Aine:  I don't see Nuria and Isaac.

 Aine:  Now I see them.  There's Nuria and Isaac and Maria and Aoife!

 Aoife:  We had fun on the horses and I got the purple balloon, Maria got orange and Aine got white.

Aine:  Those are the chickens and roosters.  They're a little the same.
Aoife:  But they're a little different.  'Cause the roosters have a crest.
Aine:  And the chickens go, "Bawk, bawk."  The roosters go, "Kikiriki, Mommy."
Aoife:  You mean, "Caca-doodle-doo."  ... and that babies say, "Pio-pio-pio."  And the chickens lay eggs for the babies to come out.
Aine:  And we get the eggs and eat them up.  Like we did this morning.

 Aoife:  We were picking tomatoes in the garden.

Aine:  It's Maria's little house.  We're playin'.

 Aoife:  It's Maria's little house (all four stories of it).

 Aoife:  We were peaking out the door to see the flowers.

Aine:  We each had our own umbrellas.
Aoife:  And this is of us seeing the really old castle.

 Aoife:  Jumping.

 Aoife:  And petting the horses.

 Aine:  I have my baby and my hat and I didn't want to pet the animals.

Aoife:  That's a picture of us leaving and wanting to go back home.
Aine:  And we sleeped in the car 'cause we were sleepy.
Aoife:  'Cause we did lots of things.


Aine: My favorite thing was riding the horses and the balloon and the toy museum.

Aoife:  The most favorite thing that I liked was riding with the horses and getting a balloon and going to the toy museum.

Some quick notes:

Arbeca is about an hour and a half drive away from the city, so it was a quick easy get away.  Nuria is Ana´s, Aine's teacher, sister.  Maria and Aoife are in the same class at school, and great friends, as you can see.  This is the home that their mother grew up in and it now serves as a great little family retreat.

The ruins we went to are Iberian and nearly 3000 years old, so I suppose "old" is a bit of an understatement.

We ate a ton of great food including the best paella we've ever had, made at home by Nuria -- she even made the fish stock to cook it all in from scratch!  We also had the best baby clams we've ever had the next day at lunch.

The village was fantastic, the neighbors incredible.  We came home with fresh eggs and tomatoes that the children gathered plus a full tray of fresh, delicious nectarines.

It was a wonderful time and we feel so fortunate to be making such great friends.

Peratellada - Cadaqués Get Away: Part II

While Grandma and Grandpa were here we all managed to get away for a weekend, despite any other business or chaos ; ).  We visited an old favorite (Part I pics, from 2006, are at the end of the post) and had a nice time showing some old and new Favorites around.  XO

Cadaqués -

 It was sunny.

 The streets were beautiful.

 Picturesque European waterfront -- plus a cute kid and her mommy.

 Someone loves the camera ...

 ... and the camera loves her.

 Gotta get in a silly shot.

Peratallada -

We stayed in the same "rural tourism" farmhouse as we did 6 years ago.  It was as lovely as we'd remembered and totally new with the kids.

 "Kikiriki!"

 They LOVED standing at the window in the morning and calling back and forth with the roosters.

Daddy about to enter after packing up the car in his "La Roja" t-shirt.  Totally appropriate since Spain kicked butt in the Eurocup later that day!

 Licking pretend "chupa-chups." 

 Outside our flat in the greater house -- precious.

 The barn -- so much fun for kids of all ages (er, cough-cough, Grandpa -- okay, Mommy too).

 Lovely girl, chow time for the cows behind.  From what we could tell, it was always chow time.

 Now, that's a proper farmhouse door!

 The village of Peratallada at a distance.

 Yes, those are giant bales of hay behind our lovely daughter.

 The farm (and Grandpa) at a distance.

Part I:  James and I got away for a long weekend during the winter months when were lived here in ´06.  It is one of the trips we remember most fondly of all that we've taken.

 From the same vantage point as the "Peretallada at a distance" picture taken above, just a slight turn.

 The village at sunset.

 Cadaqués by day.

 It was much colder ...

 Windier ...

 Rainier ...

 Yet, so amazing!

Yes, definitely amazing.

I'm sure we'll be back, probably to the same little farmhouse.  We'll probably wander the same little streets, and it will probably feel like the same sweet respite as it did the first two times.  It will also probably be as equally different and new as each of the first two times.  Well, I suppose that could be said about a lot of things.

Talk soon!

Xxxx

"Open Doors" Day & Celebration

The schools around here tend to go all out for the end of the year, the celebrations are quite something.  We were of course, incredibly excited to attend, the kids had been practicing their sweet songs and dances around the house all week.  It was a great time all around!

Entering the "big kids" building.

Getting their dance on!

Seriously, they're two and they followed super-duper cute choreography and sang at the same time!

What a bunch of sweet little owls, especially the last one you can see on the right!

Flit, flutter, fly!

And stage exit, looking pretty self satisfied.

All of the nursery school kiddos came back up for the final number.  Aine is being escorted up by her teacher (and a current love of her life).

Hmmm...

After the show ... mischievous and delightfully playful.

It was such an impressive show.  Oh, and all those little costumes were a collaborative effort between students and teachers.  We left beaming and headed off for a special treat with friends!  We're definitely looking forward to next year!

Sevillanas

It's been quite a busy July.  I've been both teaching an intensive course and working on an intensive course in my master's program, the girls have been attending their summer school camp every morning and we had Grandma and Grandpa Koonce in town for most of the month (actually from mid-June to mid-July).  While they were here James got the first mini break he's had since we arrived nearly a year ago.  He played tour guide and translator to Grandpa Frank as the ventured down to Andalucia to get some information and pictures for a project he's working on.  Maybe we'll get some pictures of Grandpa on a donkey someday soon.  While there, James couldn't help but get us some super cute cooking gear because, as you well know if you keep up with us, we're big on food.  We made some super yummy no sugar added-almond four-chocolate-banana muffins.  Now, there's a mouthful.

Olé!

Font de la Budellera - More Adventures in Parc de Collserola

Like many of our Barcelonais counterparts we cite one of the many great things about living in this city as being sandwiched between ´montaña y mar´ -- between the mountains and the sea.  Also, like many others who live here, we've become regular patrons of Collserola (see previous posts).  We pack a pica-picnic, take a short bus and train ride, and set out on what usually turns out to be a fantastic mid-morning adventure.  We'd kept to the same path up until a couple of weeks ago--getting the kids used to their hiking legs..but we finally decided to try something different.  We sure are glad we did.  What a wonder we discovered!

Daddy and Aoife starting to explore the area.

The amazing wisteria that vines all over, thanks to the Font (natural fountain).  The color and fragrance were both incredibly vibrant and wonderful.

The mountains behind.

Font de la Buddellera -- tapped.  How'd that cute kid get in there ; )?

Posed adorableness ...

... and silliness.

And just because I love these photos for some reason:

Here are my beauties in the morning before we headed out.

And this one tells a great story ... it's one of those that really has a thousand words.  I hope you can think of at least a few.

Visit again soon!

We love you.

XO